Royal Opera House

From alien-blasting sci-fi to historical drama, opera has long soundtracked some of the silver screen's most memorable moments.

We've picked out a few of our favourites, external, playing up to a few of opera's most fantastical stereotypes.

BBC Radio 3

It's a result. Sean Rafferty, host of In Tune, has just anounced that Radio 3 listeners, given a choice of Royal Opera performances of Faust, The Magic Flute, Tosca and The Flying Dutchman, have chosen... Tosca!

The Royal Opera’s 2011 production stars Angela Gheorghiu as Tosca, Jonas Kaufmann as Cavaradossi and Bryn Terfel as Scarpia.

7.30pm on BBC Radio 3.

Image source, ROH

English National Opera

#OperaPassion

Aida is the grandest of all grand operas, a timeless story of duty, love and betrayal amid the clash of war.

Jamal Edwards MBE is taking a tour behind the scenes to find out all about the costumes, staging and music for Aida.

Image source, ENO/Aoife Breen

Image source, ENO/Aoife Breen

Lina Johansson is the Movement Director for the ENO production of Aida. She says there's a surprising amount of crossover between the art of singing and that of the dancers and acrobats.

The head of wigs and make-up Vanessa Davis confesses that the inspiration for her career was watching Robin Williams transform into Mrs Doubtfire.

We're crossing live to The Coliseum in a couple of minutes where English National Opera is preparing for curtain up on its latest Aida. Singing star Latonia Moore likes nothing more than a bit of karaoke once the curtain comes down. But what's her jam? Great tips too for those who like to belt out a tune if you're planning to sing along.

English National Opera

Coming up in five minutes, an exclusive backstage tour of ENO's current production of Verdi's Aida starring soprano Latonia Moore in the title role alongside Gwyn Hughes Jones as Radames.

Image source, English National Opera/Aoife Breen

Set in Ancient Egypt, Aida is an Ethiopian princess held captive in Egypt, in love with a General, Radames, and he with her. When he is chosen to lead a war with Ethiopia, the conflict of Aida’s love for both Radames and her country unfolds as a timeless story of love and betrayal.

Image source, ENO/Tristram Kenton

English National Opera traces its roots back to 1931 when Lilian Baylis established the Sadler’s Wells Opera Company.

During the Second World War the Sadler’s Wells Theatre was closed and the company toured the provinces, returning to its home in June 1945 for the premiere of Benjamin Britten’s Peter Grimes, external, which proved to be the most important British opera since Purcell’s time. Britten remains at the heart of ENO’s repertoire.

In 1968 Sadler’s Wells Opera relocated from Sadler’s Wells Theatre to the London Coliseum, the Company was then renamed English National Opera.

Discover more about the story of Aida, external or watch the trailer ahead of the live stream:

BBC Radio 3

Watch Radio 3's Tom Service experience a very strong physical reaction to the last few pages of Wagner's Götterdämmerung...

With Joan Matabosch, artistic director

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Tomorrow's World
Life's big questions answered

We're up to four now!

Tomorrow's World
Life's big questions answered

The red line is the sweat response to the aria and the blue line the music's sound wave.

Tomorrow's World
Life's big questions answered

We're live at the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry with Lindsey Chapman, Professor Trevor Cox and "willing volunteer" Phil from Security to ask, how do our bodies respond to an aria?

We'll hear two different arias, "Nessun Dorma" and "Signore, ascolta!" from Turandot by Puccini sung by Monica Toll and Iain Henderson from the Royal Northern College of Music.

You'll see the response measured by computer - the physical manifestation of the hairs standing up on your neck. Spine-tingling stuff!

High drama, incredible plots and emotional characters. Like the soap operas to which they gave their name, opera hooks its audience with intriguing storylines full of chaotic twists and turns. This BBC iWonder guide explains why opera audiences often go to feel rather than think.

Opera and science come together for the last time today at the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry at 4.30 as we ask how music gives us the shivers.

Music is a universal language - its appeal runs across the world in many cultures. In its various forms, music unites human beings in a uniquely pleasurable experience - like eating, sleeping, or sex - yet, of itself, it has no practical value.

Moreover, music is able to trigger physiological changes in the human body - most people report occasionally experiencing the 'tingles' when listening to music. So what is going on in our bodies and brains when we experience this (usually) pleasurable phenomenon?

Victoria and Albert Museum

The soprano sings from Dvorak's opera Rusalka in the Tapestries Gallery at the Victoria & Albert Museum.

Northern Ireland Opera

This is only the third day of rehearsals for Northern Ireland Opera's new production of Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte. The show must go on, despite the best efforts of hurricane Ophelia.

Funny, sexy, charming and updated to the roaring 1920s, Così fan tutte features some of Mozart’s most sublime and spectacular music, from the vocal fireworks of Fiordiligi's ‘Come Scoglio’ to the beautiful trio,‘Soave Sia Il Vento’.

In essence the plot concerns a man called Don Alfonso who has gathered his two younger friends and proposes that there is no woman on earth who can remain faithful - with inevitable shenanigans to follow, when he sets up an experiment in which the two women are 'seduced' by each other's boyfriends who swap identities...

Northern Ireland Opera

Image source, Northern Ireland Opera

Over at the Grand Opera House in Belfast, the cast are in the middle of their first week of rehearsals for Mozart’s great comedy of love, temptation, and partner-swapping, Così fan tutte, updated to the roaring 1920s.

Image source, NI Opera/Andrew Forsythe

Join us in five minutes in the Baby Grand Studio to hear live performances and discover how opera has become a vital part of the city's cultural make-up.

Opera doesn't always take centre-stage in Belfast, but back in 1963, the Grand Opera House welcomed a young, relatively unknown Italian tenor to the stage for his UK debut in Puccini's Madama Butterfly.

The young tenor was Luciano Pavarotti, who went on to become one of the world's greatest opera stars, selling millions of albums and selling out shows across the world. Read more about Pavarotti's UK debut on BBC News

While Belfast has had an opera house since 1895, Northern Ireland Opera was founded only in 2010 and is the youngest opera company featured today.

Find out more about NIO's mission to broaden the opera audience in the region with modern, accessible productions, external as well as local engagement and outreach programmes, external.

Royal Opera House

Swap your headphones for a live performance on your commute home tonight, if you happen to work near London's King's Cross.

Commuters and opera fans will get the chance to not only experience The Royal Opera’s world beating chorus – but sing with them too!

Inspired by the operas featured in the V&A's exhibition Opera: Passion, Power and Politics, enjoy the fabulous might of the Anvil Chorus from Verdi’s Il trovatore, then the beautiful Easter Hymn from Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana sung by soloist Sarah-Jane Lewis and members of the chorus.

Then, it is your chance to join in the fun as we ask the whole of the station to sing out with The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves (Va, pensiero) from Verdi’s Nabucco.

And if you can't be at St Pancras for 18:20 today then you can watch the live stream right here on this page.

British Council

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If you want MORE emoji operas though, head over to the Royal Opera House to guess the operas and ballets from the emojis, external.

British Council

Coming up in 5 minutes, General Director Ignacio García-Belenguer explains how he’s opening up Spain’s leading opera house to new and younger audiences.

Image source, British Council

English Touring Opera